Mystery drones in New Jersey, New York: A timeline of what officials have said

What are believed to be large aerial drones have been spotted in the sky along the East Coast -- especially New Jersey and New York -- since mid-November, prompting calls from residents, as well as state and local officials, for answers on what's being seen.

Here's what officials have said about the purported drone sightings:

Nov. 19

The Morris County Prosecutor's Office in New Jersey says drone activity was observed by law enforcement members on patrol.

The MCPO says it issued a statement in response to numerous videos on social media about purported drone activity in the area.

The prosecutor's office says the drones are "no known threat to public safety."

Nov. 22

The Federal Aviation Administration issues a temporary flight restriction in Bedminster, New Jersey, from Nov. 22 to Dec. 6 for special security reasons and says no unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are authorized in the region. The restricted area is where President-elect Donald Trump's Bedminster golf course is.

Nov. 25

The FAA issues a temporary flight restriction over Picatinny Arsenal military base in New Jersey from Nov. 25 to Dec. 26.

Dec. 3

The Morris County Prosecutor's Office advises the public on how to report drone activity. The sightings "continue to be no known threat to public safety," the office says.

The FBI starts investigating the drone sightings and asks the public to report any information related to recent sightings of possible drones flying in several areas along the Raritan River.

"The FBI - Newark and the N.J. State Police are asking for the public to report any information related to the recent sightings of possible drones. Anyone with relevant information is asked to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or submit it online at tips.fbi.gov. Citizens can also upload videos through the latter website," the FBI says.

Dec. 4

The FAA extends the flight restriction in Bedminster through Dec. 20.

Dec. 9

The mayors of 21 towns in New Jersey write a letter to Gov. Phil Murphy demanding action.

They call for a full investigation into the drones "to determine the origin, purpose and compliance with applicable regulations."

They also demand the "implementation of measures to prevent unauthorized or unsafe drone operations" in Morris County going forward, and "clear communication to local officials, law enforcement and residents regarding the findings of this investigation."

Dec. 10

New Jersey state Sen. Jon Bramnick releases a statement calling for a "limited state of emergency."

"The State of New Jersey should issue a limited state of emergency banning all drones until the public receives an explanation regarding these multiple sightings," he writes.

Dec. 11

The Pentagon debunks claims that the mysterious drones flying overhead in New Jersey were an "Iranian mothership."

New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew says the drones are "large" and "sophisticated" and alleges the presence of an "Iranian mothership" responsible for them, though he does not provide evidence to support his claims.

Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh says Van Drew's claims have no evidence behind them, and there's no evidence these activities are coming from a foreign entity or the work of an adversary.

"There is not any truth to that," Singh says. "There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States and there's no so-called mothership launching drones toward the United States."

Dec. 12

New York and New Jersey senators write a letter to the heads of the FBI, FAA and the Department of Homeland Security.

"We write with urgent concern regarding the unmanned aerial system (UAS) activity that has affected communities across New York and New Jersey in recent days," a letter from New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and New Jersey Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim states.

The letter asks for lawmakers to be briefed "as soon as possible on how your agencies are working with federal and local law enforcement to identify and address the source of these incursions."

White House national security spokesman John Kirby tells reporters they are actively investigating but have been unable to "corroborate some of the reported sightings."

Kirby says "many" of the reported drone sightings appear to be lawfully operated manned aircraft.

"We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus," Kirby says. "The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are investigating these sightings, and they're working closely with state and local law enforcement to provide resources using numerous detection methods to better understand their origin."

He also says there have been no reported or confirmed drone sightings in restricted airspace.

"That said, we certainly take seriously the threat that can be posed by unmanned aircraft systems, which is why law enforcement and other agencies continue to support New Jersey and investigate the reports, even though they have uncovered no malicious activity or intent at this particular stage," Kirby says.

Dec. 13

"Multiple" instances of drones are reported entering airspace at Naval Weapons Station Earle in New Jersey.

"While no direct threats to the installation have been identified, we can confirm multiple instances of unidentified drones entering the airspace above Naval Weapons Station Earle," Bill Addison, public affairs officer for the naval station, says in a statement to ABC News. "The base remains prepared to respond to any potential risks, leveraging robust security measures and advanced detection capabilities."

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul calls for federal assistance after a drone sighting at Stewart International Airport, located 60 miles north of New York City, temporarily shuts down an airport.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey say "there were no impacts to flight operations during the closure."

Hochul says "this has gone too far" and calls on Congress to pass the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act, which would strengthen the FAA's oversight of drones and give more authority to state and local law enforcement agencies to investigate the activity.

"Extending these powers to New York State and our peers is essential," she said. "Until those powers are granted to state and local officials, the Biden Administration must step in by directing additional federal law enforcement to New York and the surrounding region to ensure the safety of our critical infrastructure and our people."

Dec. 14

Officials from several agencies emphasize that the federal government's investigation into the drone sightings is ongoing.

During a call with reporters, an FBI official says that of the nearly 5,000 tips the agency has received, less than 100 have generated credible leads for further investigation.

A DHS official says they're "confident that many of the reported drone sightings are, in fact, manned aircraft being misidentified as drones."

The FBI official also talks about how investigators overlayed the locations of the reported drone sightings and found that "the density of reported sightings matches the approach pattern" of the New York area's busy airports including Newark Liberty International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport.

Dec. 15

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tells ABC's "This Week" that the federal government is actively addressing the drones in New Jersey.

"I want to assure the American public that we in the federal government have deployed additional resources, personnel, technology to assist the New Jersey State Police in addressing the drone sightings," he says.

"Some of those drone sightings are, in fact, drones. Some are manned aircraft that are commonly mistaken for drones,” Mayorkas adds. "But there's no question that drones are being sighted."

New Jersey, Rep. Chris Smith says he's proposing new legislation to give state and local authorities more power to track and potentially bring down aerial drones.

Top New York officials also push for the federal government to deploy high-tech drone hunters.

Schumer says he's asking the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to immediately deploy special drone-detecting technology, which has been unclassified, to get to the bottom of what has been alarming and baffling residents in the region.

Hochul says the federal government has agreed to deploy state-of-the-art drone detection systems to New York, but it was not immediately clear if she and Schumer were speaking about the same technology.

"In response to my calls for additional resources, our federal partners are deploying a state-of-the-art drone detection system to New York state," Hochul says. "This system will support state and federal law enforcement in their investigations. We are grateful to the Biden administration for their support, but ultimately we need further assistance from Congress."

Dec. 16

President-elect Trump says the Biden administration knows more about the drones than it's sharing with the public.

"They know where it came from and where it went. And for some reason, they don't want to comment. And I think they'd be better off saying what it is. Our military knows and our president knows. And for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense," Trump says.

New Jersey State Police and the FBI in Newark say there's been an increase of pilots "being hit in the eyes with lasers because people think they see an Unmanned Aircraft Systems" and warn against people taking matters into their own hands.

"We're also concerned people will take matters into their own hands and fire a weapon at an aircraft," FBI Newark Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson Delgado says in a video message. "Not only is this act against the law, but it poses an incredible danger to the pilots and passengers on those aircraft."

The Department of Homeland Security, FBI, FAA and Department of Defense say in a multiagency statement that the thousands of drone sightings that have been reported over the last month in the Northeast do not appear to be "anything anomalous," nor do they present a national security or public safety risk.

The FBI has received more than 5,000 tips in the last few weeks with approximately 100 leads generated, the statement says, and there still is no threat to public safety.

"Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and stars mistakenly reported as drones," the statement says. "We have not identified anything anomalous and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the Northeast."

ABC News' Bill Hutchinson, Meredith Deliso and Brittany Gaddy contributed to this report.